Affiliations 

  • 1 Centre for Nursing Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam Campus, Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Statistics, Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Segamat Campus, Segamat, Johor, Malaysia
PLoS One, 2018;13(3):e0192417.
PMID: 29534070 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192417

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Self-care behaviour is essential in preventing diabetes foot problems. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of health education programs based on the self-efficacy theory on foot self-care behaviour for older adults with diabetes.

METHODS: A randomised controlled trial was conducted for 12 weeks among older adults with diabetes in elderly care facility in Peninsular Malaysia. Six elderly care facility were randomly allocated by an independent person into two groups (intervention and control). The intervention group (three elderly care facility) received a health education program on foot self-care behaviour while the control group (three elderly care facility) received standard care. Participants were assessed at baseline, and at week-4 and week-12 follow-ups. The primary outcome was foot-self-care behaviour. Foot care self-efficacy (efficacy expectation), foot care outcome expectation, knowledge of foot care and quality of life were the secondary outcomes. Data were analysed with Mixed Design Analysis of Variance using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22.0.

RESULTS: 184 respondents were recruited but only 76 met the selection criteria and were included in the analysis. Foot self-care behaviour, foot care self-efficacy (efficacy expectation), foot care outcome expectation and knowledge of foot care improved in the intervention group compared to the control group (p < 0.05). However, some of these improvements did not significantly differ compared to the control group for QoL physical symptoms and QoL psychosocial functioning (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: The self-efficacy enhancing program improved foot self-care behaviour with respect to the delivered program. It is expected that in the future, the self-efficacy theory can be incorporated into diabetes education to enhance foot self-care behaviour for elderly with diabetes living in other institutional care facilities.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12616000210471.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.